


Just a Trim

by PersonifiedKat



Series: Experiments and Throat Punches [3]
Category: The Last Kids on Earth (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Haircuts, Just some easily flustered boys, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Swearing, some June/Jack if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:49:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26502421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PersonifiedKat/pseuds/PersonifiedKat
Summary: To anyone who is considering getting an intricate hairstyle that requires fairly consistent upkeep, but is worried the end of the world is coming… yeah. Maybe don’t.Especially a Mohawk… stay away from that shit.In which Dirk needs a haircut (Badly) and Quint is drafted for the job.
Relationships: Quint Baker/Dirk Savage
Series: Experiments and Throat Punches [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923973
Comments: 3
Kudos: 52





	Just a Trim

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another one-shot for the series. Am I obsessed? Definitely. Will I keep posting stories everyday? Probably not.   
> This one was inspired by the fact that Dirk's hair seems really impractical and there is no way that it would stay a Mohawk long if it weren't for cartoon magic. It also presents an opportunity for bonding between my fave two boys.  
> This is definitely set earlier than "Thought You should Know". In this one, I imagine the boys don't really know why they keep blushing at each other, just that they can't really stop. I mean, they're 13/14 years old, so the hormones are there but the brain is a bit behind, ya know?   
> Also, not super happy with the ending of this one. I find it difficult to tie things off sometimes. If anyone has any tips, feeling free to pass them on!  
> Anyway, as usual, if you don't like m/m or this pairing in particular, feel free to move along.   
> Otherwise, enjoy!

One thing you don’t always consider when you imagine what life in the apocalypse might be like, is hair.

Yeah, you read that right.

Hair.

It’s an amazingly relevant topic when the world is ending.

Well, maybe not for everyone. Here’s an example.

Quint’s hair was largely a non-issue. Sure, it was visibly longer than he would usually choose to keep it, but it certainly wasn’t getting in his way. His hair had always been slow to grow, and with his tight curls, there wasn’t too much to be done in the way of upkeep. Sure, there would eventually come a point where he would need to get it cut. Until then, a good wash once or twice a week was pretty much all he had to worry about.

The others… not so simple.

In fact, several months into the apocalypse, it was becoming a pretty _serious_ issue for some of the last kids on earth.

June was debatable. Being as athletic as she is, she had always kept her hair relatively short, but long enough to pull back. She wasn’t one for getting hair in her mouth in the middle of destroying her opposition during field-hockey, you know? That said, she had always kept a few shorter layers as a little accent to her standard pony-tail hairstyle. Not exactly _bangs_ per se, but they gave the essence of bangs. Unfortunately, several months into the apocalypse, these not-quite-bangs had reached the point where they couldn’t quite be pulled back with the rest of her longer hair, but were too thick and heavy to be swept to the side and stay. In her case, a quick trim was all she really needed.

Then there was Jack. Definitely more of a problem. He had always been one to keep his hair particularly short, as he had never had anyone around to teach him to take care of longer hair. Now, several months passed his usually scheduled haircut, he was starting to look a little rough. Bangs he’d never had and never asked for were constantly getting in his way, and the hair on the back of his neck was starting to tickle his shoulders. He very much resembled that kid everyone knew in elementary school who didn’t realise they had a mullet. Really not a good look for a teenage boy… or anyone, honestly. It was getting to the point where he was ready to shave his whole head and be done with it.

And if you thought Jack’s situation was pretty dire, you weren’t ready for Dirk’s.

Oh man.

It was pretty bad.

To anyone who is considering getting an intricate hairstyle that requires fairly consistent upkeep, but is worried the end of the world is coming… yeah. Maybe don’t. 

Especially a Mohawk… stay away from that shit.

For the first few weeks of the apocalypse, it hadn’t been a big deal. Sure, the shaved sides of Dirk’s Mohawk were getting a little fuzzy, but who really cared? It’s the end of the world, right? He had bigger issues. By the time he had met up with Jack and Quint though, it was already starting to become a concern. The longer hair on top was starting to fold and sway in strange and uncomfortable ways. Oh well, nothing a little extra pomade wouldn’t fix. Now though…

Now it was just…

Ah, fuck it. Even Dirk could admit it was bad.

You could hardly see where the shape of the Mohawk had once been, it was so grown out. There was still an obvious difference in length between the sides and the top, but now it was looking less intentional and more like Dirk had had an unfortunate run in with a weed-whacker at some point in his life. On top of that, the long section would not stop trying to part straight down the middle, which was… no. Just no. To avoid that problem, he had taken to pulling back the front half of his longer hair into a knot on the top of his head (something June had taken it upon herself to teach him after she got tired of his grumping). While this was a short term solution, he wasn’t in love with the idea of constantly needing to tie up his hair. He also didn’t love the nickname _Man-bun_ that Jack was trying way too hard to force upon him. All this to say, when he had happened upon a rundown barber shop on a supplies run, Dirk jumped at the opportunity.

“Who wants to give me a buzz cut?” Dirk yelled loudly once he’d returned to the tree house, holding up an electronic razor and some trimming sheers. The rest of the group looked up at his entrance.

“Dude! Me too!” Jack exclaimed excitedly, reaching for the trimming sheers, “I am so done with this mop on my head.” Before he could get a grip on the scissors, June intervened.

“Oh, there is no way I am letting you cut your own hair.” June said, snatching the scissors out of his hands, “I don’t even want to imagine the mess you would make.”

“Hey, a little faith would be nice.” Jack pouted.

“Actually, I must side with June on this one, Jack.” At Jack’s affronted look, Quint shrugged apologetically, “Well, you tend to get impatient with delicate tasks.”

Jack seemed to consider this briefly, before shrugging ascent.

“Okay, fair point.”

“Alright, then it’s settled.” Dirk cut in, “June will tackle Jack’s mop and Quint will help me buzz mine.” Quint looked up in surprise, while June and Jack just nodded.

“Works for me, common Jack. We are not doing this inside.”

June dragged Jack out of the tree house, leaving Quint and Dirk behind.

“Alright, gimme ten minutes, I need to go wash my hair.” Dirk said, picking up a towel from the floor.

“Uh, why?” Quint asked, slightly confused, “Are we not cutting most of it off anyway?” Dirk snorted.

“Yeah, but before that you’re gonna be getting your hands all up in it.” Dirk said, already making towards the exit, clearly heading for the mote, “Even I’m not cruel enough to make you touch a greasy head like mine.”

“Oh, uh, fair point I suppose.” Quint admitted, ringing his hands together at the idea of getting so close to Dirk’s person, “In that case I will find some batteries for the clippers and set up a spot on the balcony.”

“Works for me,” Dirk grunted, closing the door behind him.

It was several minutes later when Dirk returned, meeting Quint where he’d pulled out a chair and end table onto the balcony. Dirk sat in the chair, still rubbing at his damp hair with the towel.

“We’re gonna need to wait until it dries a bit more, or else the cutters will jam.”

“Not to worry, I already thought of that.” Quint interjected, showing Dirk his set up, “I borrowed the hair dryer I repaired for June. It is for a good cause.” He gently reached up, pulling Dirks hands and towel away from his head, “This should be much quicker.”

“Oh, uh. Yeah, smart.” Dirk stuttered, His neck reddening slightly as the other boy’s hands moved his head into place.

Quint pulled out a brush and started up the hair dryer. He decided to start with the longer strip of hair running down the centre of Dirk’s head.

“Let me know if I hurt you in any way.”

Dirk only grunted, hoping the boy was already too focused on the task at hand to notice his blush darken. He had not anticipated how nice it would feel to have the other boy run a brush along his head and neck. Dirk could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times he had allowed close contact like this before the apocalypse. Not from lack of wanting it, just… other reasons. Reasons he didn’t want to think about.

Little did he know, Quint was having his own internal dilemma at their proximity. 

As Quint continued making pass after pass over Dirk’s scalp with the brush and hair dryer, he couldn’t help noticing how soft and silky the strands appeared. How had he never noticed before? Perhaps it was the fact that Dirk used to use far too much product in his hair in order to maintain the Mohawk shape. It had always made it look so stiff and lifeless. Now, with it freshly cleaned, the dirty blond locks appeared significantly smoother… and shinier…

Quint’s mouth seemed to take on a mind of its own.  
“Your hair is so soft when you wash it.”

The comment was met with surprise from both parties.

“Oh… uh.” Dirk couldn’t resist scratching at his neck, an old nervous habit. His already blushing face felt like it had caught fire, “Thanks. I guess. Don’t really ever think about it.”

“Oh, right, w-why would you?” Quint stuttered out, trying to recover, “Anyway! I think you are all dry.” He announced. Grateful for the distraction, Dirk reached up, running a hand through his hair.

“Yep, that’ll work. Might as well get chopping.” 

Quint grabbed the clippers and turned them on. Once done, he turned back to examine the best approach. He figured he might as well start at the front. He gently ran his finger through the front section of Dirk’s hair, intending to hold the strands taught for the clippers. Just as he was about to bring the clippers to Dirk’s hair, Quint paused.

“Are you sure about this?” Quint asked, voice uncertain. Dirk raised an eyebrow, tilting to look at the boy posed above him.

“Uh, ya. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Quint shrugged, setting down the clippers once more to face Dirk properly. He still had one hand in Dirk’s hair.

“I just… Your hair is so…” This time he brought both hands up, running the soft strands between his fingers, “Nice.” He finished.

If Dirk thought his face was on fire _before_ , it could probably give the sun a run for its money _now_. It took way longer than it should have for his brain to come up with a reply.

“Uh. Thanks but… it seriously looks like crap right now.” Dirk argued, reaching his own hands up to pull the long hair back and fully display the discrepancy in length all around his head. It took every ounce of self-discipline Dirk possessed not to spontaneously combust as his and Quint’s fingers brushed against each other, “I gotta do _something_ to it, ‘cause this shit isn’t working.”

Quint hummed in thought, pulling back. Obviously, Dirk had a point. Unruly hair was a distraction nobody had time for during monster attacks.

“Okay, your logic is sound.” Quint conceded, before shrugging, “But the truly problematic aspect is the long section down the middle, correct?” He asked, pushing Dirk’s hands aside and collecting the hair in his own fingers to examine it more closely. At this point, he might have been getting too comfortable playing with Dirk’s hair, “Perhaps if I focused on cutting this section to blend it in with the short hair around the perimeter, it would no longer get in the way and you would not have to cut quite so much off.” Quint suggested. Dirk considered this.

“Okay, if you think you can do it without making me look even crazier, sure I guess.” Dirk consented, trying to look and sound like Quint’s hands in his hair weren’t making him feel way too many feelings at once.

“I think I could at least give it a proper attempt.” Quint smiled, pleased that Dirk was trusting him with this.

“Alright, go ahead then. If it looks whack we can always just buzz it.”

So Quint went to work with the clippers, carefully trimming the longer sections without completely shaving them down. It took nearly twenty minutes to get the hair to properly blend in with the surrounding sections, but it looked significantly better already. He started to feel inspired, spontaneously deciding to leave the very top section a little bit longer, and then going around the sides and back again. By the time he was done, he had achieved a hairstyle most people called an undercut, and honestly it looked good. A little choppy maybe (What did you expect? He’s not a hairstylist), but good.

“There! I believe I have completed the task.” Quint announced, brushing as much hair off Dirk’s shoulders as he could before walking around to face him. He smiled happily up at the larger boy as he stood, handing him a mirror, “Take a look.”

Dirk blushed again (he _really_ needed to get that under control). He couldn’t help thinking how _cute_ Quint looked when he was pleased with himself.

He took the proffered mirror and examined his new hair, eyebrows raising in surprise, “Woah, little dude! Nice job.” He laughed, angling his head one way, then the other, “You sure know how to get fancy with those clippers.” Quint laughed, looking abashed.

“I am pleased that you like it.” Quint admitted, “It would have been unfortunate to cut all of it off.” Dirk smirked.

“Yeah, would suck to get rid of such nice, soft hair, right?” Dirk bounced his eyebrows, using a little bit of bravado to cover up his honest pleasure at Quint’s compliments. Quint shoved at his shoulder, knowing he was being teased.

“Yeah, nice when you wash it.” Quint snarked back, “Perhaps you should make that a habit.” He moved to grab a broom and begin brushing the stray hair off the balcony.

“Hah, maybe I should.” Dirk admitted, moving to help Quint with the clean-up, “Especially if it means you’re willing to get your hands in it.” At Quint’s confused look, Dirk flushed and coughed, “To cut it. I mean. Again. Later.”

“Oh, right of course.” Quint agreed, looking away to hide his own rosy cheeks, “I would be happy to. Whenever you need.”

Dirk smiled, “Thanks man.” And with that he collected the table and chair, heading back inside.

Quint grinned to himself as he followed the larger boy. Of course he would be happy to help. Dirk’s hair really was quite soft.

Any excuse to touch it in the future was fine by him.


End file.
